Carolina Hurricanes @ Columbus Blue Jackets: 1/12/23 Game Recap

 Even with three goals in Period 1, it was an incohesive first 20 minutes for both the Columbus Blue Jackets and visiting Carolina Hurricanes.  As I said, though, there would be three goals total in this opening period of play.  Goal one would come from B. Pesce at 2:34.  Them, at B. Burns, would score at 10:39.  This would put the Hurricanes up 2-0 over the Blue Jackets, but 5th Line, have no fear, Kuraly is here!  Yes, Number 7 would net his eighth goal of the season at 15:00.  Matheu Olivier would add his fourth assist this season on this goal, while Gavin Bayreuther would add number three.  So, after 20 minutes, the Hurricanes would hold a 2-1 lead.  

J. Chatfield would score at 15:52 in favor of his Hurricanes, making the score 3-1 late in Period 2.  This would be the only goal in this second period.  The Blue Jackets had some excellent chances at goals, but they couldn't capitalize on their now two Powerplay chances at this point.  Joonas Korpisalo had some great saves in his 200th game, even with one more getting through.  A tremendous scoring chance was also blocked by Nick Blankenburg, who, before this game, had been ruled out with a high ankle sprain since November 11th.  3-1 would be the Hurricane's lead still, however, after 40 minutes of gameplay.      

Early into Period 3, the Hurricanes would gain their third Powerplay of the evening due to a Nick Blankenburg hook.  As with the first two, this wouldn't convert to a goal for the opposition.  A few minutes later, during a faceoff, Kent Johnson would let go of his stick, and since the puck touched his glove, this resulted in a 2-minute minor for "Delay of Game."  Fun, right?  So, on to their fourth Powerplay for the Hurricanes we go!  Joonas Korpisalo would be putting every last bit of energy into keeping the puck out of his net...but unfortunately, an equipment malfunction with his mask would allow one through.  This would give the Hurricanes a 4-1 lead at 8:02, thanks to B. Pesce.  A little later in this final period of play, equal timed penalties would occur, giving us a 4-on-4 situation for 2 minutes.  This would set up each team to score a goal.  First, the Hurricanes would score at 14:55 by way of J. Slavin.  Shortly after, at 15:27, Johnny Gaudreau would make this game 5-2.  This makes his current goal total for this season 12.  Patrik Laine would add his tenth assist of the season.  The secondary assist would go to Adam Boqvist, his fourth this season.  S. Jarvis would manage to push another past Joonas Korpisalo at 16:45, and to add insult to injury, a wayward puck would clip Nick Blankenburg in the left leg, resulting in him disappearing to the locker room for the remainder of this game.  Your final tonight:  Hurricanes 6, Blue Jackets 2.  

If you thought the Hurricanes wouldn't make us pay for that OT Win last week, you were wrong.  Also, this is a playoff contender, and they've been losing (as Bob McElligott pointed out on the radio broadcast); they needed tonight and took the 2 points from us. 

On 41 shots, Joonas Korpisalo did stop 35.  A huge night for him, being his 200th game.  However, as you can see by the numbers, he was under fire all night.  

If any plus was had tonight, all six goals weren't scored on a Powerplay, meaning our team killed all 4 the Hurricanes received.  Also, we had 20 hits to their 12 and 20 blocks to their 8.  It wasn't a winning final score, but at least the fight was there.  

Skating forward to Game 42 of this NHL Season, we will travel to Detroit, Michigan, and take on the Red Wings Saturday at 7:00 PM.  I cringe when I say this, but if there are any injury updates, I'll post them to my social media pages. 

Go CBJ!